Notes for IWK +Sun May 4 + Music Monday

Hey y'all! Big post today so let's get right to it!

IWK Performance - Friday May 2nd

• Location: IWK atrium, meet near the Tim Hortons. We will be taken to the room we will be performing in (it's different from last year)
• Call Time: 9:55 am. Kallie and Zoe have a different call time, Christina will email you separately.
• Event Time: 11:00 am-12:00 pm.
• Rep
• One Voice (trio is Kallie, Sara, Shila)
• Brave (solo by Kallie - there are simple background vocals on the chorus, anyone who is able to learn it by Friday, we will put you around the piano with Zoe to sing. Listen to the song with lyrics here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyAfjUHlFSM)
• Dress: tunics, leggings, boots. There will be time to get changed after the rehearsal (we have a green room space).
• Zoe will be playing piano as Edward has transportation issues and can't be there on Friday.
• We have been invited to go and see the new wing once the reception is over (optional)

Sunday's Rehearsal

• Schedule:
• 1:15-1:45 pm  Music Monday rehearsal (with Edward)
• 1:45-5:30 pm  Full Company
• Notes: We'll be doing some detailed fixes, and then we're working on getting in two runs of the show. Very excited as this is our last rehearsal before the preview performance on May 11!!!!
• To Bring:
• suitcase
• costume (including Xara shoes)
• knitting 
• any ticket money you have collected this week!

Music Monday

• Rep:
• Pakkanen, V'la l'bon vent, I'll Give My Love an Apple (on our own)
• One Voice, Stand Together (with XYE)
• We'll work out the quartet in V'la l'bon vent on Sunday. One Voice will be featured on national broadcast. One Voice will have longer vamped piano sections in between the verses in order to accommodate speaking - we'll go over this on Sunday. Trio will be Kallie, Sara, and Georgia (from XYE). Stand Together will be the closing number for the event.
• Call time: 12:00 pm
• Event time: 1:00-2:00 pm
• Location: Harbour View Elementary School, 25 Alfred St., Dartmouth (52/53/64 bus routes will get you closest to the school once you get to Dartmouth)
• Dress: Xara tshirts, black bottoms, black flats. Have hair and makeup done and looking beautiful to be on camera.

Blocking & Music Notes - April 27th & Full Run Through Video

Here is the video from today's run of the show, along with the Blocking & Music notes that Claire and Christina gave in rehearsal.

April 27 - Run of WotEL

Blocking and Transition Notes & Changes

1.    End of Apple

·      Sop 1s, move back to original positions at measure 89 and the rest of the choir can fill in after that

2.    V’la l’bon Vent

·      Look at the quartet as soon as they start singing

·      The head snap forward during the first chorus needs to be cleaner

·      The chatter at the end of the piece needs to start right away – figure out what you are going to say, and who you are going to talk to

·      Remember that there are four steps on the downbeats once the choir starts singing words again near the end of the piece (after the slow section)

3.    I Lie

·      The candle needs to disappear more quickly, let hands drift down slowly

4.    Transition between I Lie & Day Dawn

·      On the imaginary next measure, assume the sleeping position (lean almost all the way over)

·      Kallie will blow out her candle when she arrives in place, and people can begin slowly waking up in their own time

5.    Day Dawn

·      Begin standing up at measure 14

·      Altos, double check when you are to step back in the “shadow” section

6.     Transition between Day Dawn & Heaven Will Rise

·      Look at Joanna as soon as she begins to speak

·      After Joanna’s line, start chattering quietly & excitedly

·      Under Mackenzie & Tejas, Jenny will start the “popcorn” notes while people continue to chatter and move to positions

·      Opening notes will happen immediately after Tejas’ line

7.     Heaven Will Rise

·      Excitement needs to build over the course of this piece

·      Measure 46 snap head to the left to see the train coming, over measure 47, slowly watch the train until you arrive back to facing centre

8.     Uraren Besotik

·      Keep your hand on the handle when you put your suitcase down to minimize the sound that it makes

·      Measures 59-60 steps forward as usual

·      Measure 61 Sop 1s put suitcases down

·      Measure 62 Sop 2s put suitcases down

·      Measure 63 Altos put suitcases down

·      Measure 64 Hands up – don’t let your arms relax until Christina releases at the end

Music Notes

1.    Apple

·      Keep the tempo up! We are losing time at the ends of phrases; keep the pulse going.

2.    V’la l’bon Vent

·      The word “vent” needs to be less “vont” (“bon” should have lips forward, “vent” should have a relaxed mouth position)

·      Alto 2s, check when your Ching ch-k pattern ends in the 5^th verse

3.    I Lie

·      Good improvement in the slow section!

·      Sopranos, continue to work on intonation

4.    Day Dawn

·      Key change was good – Sop 2 make sure you have your interval to the F# solid

·      Sop 1 – make sure to articulate slightly from measures 10-12 so that it doesn’t sound like one long legato line

·      Page 4 “clouds” – needs a clean cut-off

·      Measures 26-28 – Solidify your notes

·      Alto 1 – don’t decrescendo too much over measure 35

·      Overall – final cut-offs between sections need to be tidied up and not take too much time

5.    Heaven Will Rise

·      Going well overall

·      Christina is going to increase the tempo slightly, make sure to get that in your body

6.    Uraren Besotik

·      Those of you who know this piece really well, don’t rely only on your previous memory of how it goes – check the new markings

·      In the fast sections – only LOOK as though you are moving quickly, so that you can maintain breath support

·      Contrast between the loud and quiet sections needs some attention

Notes for Church Service + Sunday Apr 27!

Hi everyone!

We hope you had a lovely Easter weekend off and got in some much needed relaxation time! From here on out we've got a busy few weeks, so let's buckle down and be the rock stars that we always are!!!

Church Service Notes

We are singing at Edgewood-Oxford United Church (3055 Connaught Ave, Halifax) this Sunday morning. The church service is at 10:30 am, so please be at the church by 9:15 am to rehearse and sing through the hymns. We are singing Lux Aeterna, Ave Maria, and Heaven Will Rise. We will be using folders - please bring one if you have one (Christina doesn't have many left because people keep forgetting to bring them back!). Dress is long black Xara dresses, black belts (Robin to bring belts), and black flats or Xara shoes. Hair should just look nice and be pulled back off your face.

Costumes

Claire has posted a doc to the Facebook group where you can sign up for a time to go to her house and try on your costume for the show. It is mandatory that everyone arrange this before the May 4th rehearsal. There are currently spots on Saturday afternoon and Monday evening slotted. If you cannot make either time, please send her a message ASAP to schedule an alternate time.

Rehearsal Notes

Full company called 1:15-5:30 pm (sop 1s on snack duty). On Sunday we'll go through a few little fixes for the show, then we'll do a run! We'll do more notes and fixes and hopefully have time for a second run-through. In the last half an hour of rehearsal, we will be doing stand-and-sing run throughs of Heaven Will Rise, Day Dawn and Apple, in order to record them for a Canada Council grant application.

This Sunday you need to bring:

• the usuals (music, script, water, pencil)
• your costume if you were able to come to a Saturday fitting / if not, please wear a long skirt
• black Xara shoes (everyone will need to have/purchase their own pair for the show)
• sheets/dishclothes, knitting, baskets (Krystal), suitcase (Hayley)

** Important ** You will all be receiving your suitcase on Sunday afternoon. You must be prepared to take your suitcase home with you after rehearsal. You will need to bring it with you to every rehearsal/performance from now until June 1. If it is rainy on Sunday (or any rehearsal/performance day), you must bring a garbage bag to put over the suitcase or be able to transport it home in a car.

Thanks y'all!!! See you Sunday!

Exciting Plans for the 2014-15 Season!

Hi everyone!

We are so excited to share with you our plans for the 2014-15 season! We know that many of you are already looking ahead to the fall in planning your schedules, so we wanted to make sure you had as many details as possible for our exciting SEVENTH season (!!)

As usual, we will kick off our season with a three day Xara retreat (evening of Friday September 5-afternoon of Sunday Sept 7), hosted again in Glen Margaret, NS in a similar fashion to our retreat this past year. You can already start planning ahead to doing a lot of sight singing, because...

The major project for our fall will be the recording of our first, professionally produced, full-length CD! We are so excited to be embarking on this process that will allow high-quality recordings of our music to be distributed for all to hear! We'll be recording on several dates throughout the fall, mostly taking place during our regular Sunday afternoon rehearsals.

Once the CD is finished, we, of course, have to throw a launch party! This event will be a mix of big Xara singing music from the CD, and XYE performing their short winter production. Our plan is to use dozens of candles and candelabras to make the room sparkle and glow with super warm holiday spirit. This event will also be a fundraiser for the whole organization. The date is tentatively set as Saturday, December 13th, 2014.

Also in the fall, we'll have two smaller gigs - one as part of Nocturne 2014, and the second in an exciting collaboration with LunaSea Theatre, a women's theatre company based here in Halifax. Taking place in an historic Halifax home, Xara will play the part of Scandinavian 'huldras' (think sirens, but in the forest!). This is an exciting paid collaboration that will help us bridge our work into Halifax's theatre community!

From January-April we'll be preparing for our spring performance - we have decided to remount our very successful 2011 show "Fatty Legs". This show is based on a children's book of the same name and tells the story of a young Inuit girl and her experiences in the residential school system. This performance will use many of the same elements as the original production (including working with Sarain Carson-Fox, the contemporary dancer who played the part of Margaret!) but will be a slightly extended version with some new pieces of music added and more choreography for us. We are targeting this production for the weekend of May 1, 2 and 3, 2015.

We are currently applying for many grants and, if they are successful, we will be able to look at doing a tour of Fatty Legs in May or June. This tour would bring the show into schools and different communities across Nova Scotia and potentially the Maritime provinces. Once we know whether we have sufficient funding to make the tour go ahead, we would look to creating a balanced touring ensemble based on who was available to tour.

So as you can see, our seventh season is going to be a very exciting one!! Going forward, we are endeavouring to create a season that is fulfilling for our singers, exciting for our audiences, and that will have a powerful impact on our community. We want to make the experience rich and enjoyable for you, and will be taking on limited external performances as they come up. We recognize that this past season has been very demanding on all of our singers - and while we are so grateful for your energy and dedication, we want to assure you that we have taken steps to make the workload more manageable for the future.

To that end, we think it's important for you to know that the board has approved a decrease in choir fees for the 2014-15 season. The fees have been dropped to $150/singer for the year. We hope this is the first step in making the Xara experience more accessible for everyone. As well, the amount of fundraising expected from singers will drop significantly for next season, with Christmas wreaths as the only fundraiser for the year.

Thank you for everything you have put into this season, and for all the exciting things we have yet to come in this great year!!! You are all such incredible performers, and we couldn't do it without you!

Love, Claire & Christina

Practice Notes for the Long Weekend

Hi everyone,

Thank you for such a great rehearsal on Sunday - it felt so amazing to finally run the whole show! We are really looking forward to continuing to refine and shape this beautiful story.

We wanted to update you with some notes following the run so you know what to work on over the next week and a half. We went over some of these on Sunday but we thought it would be helpful to have them written out here.

Music:

• V'la l'bon vent (VBV): phrase clipping is still a major issue!!
• VBV: pronunciation of "vent" should not be the same as "bon". The vent vowel is too dark right now and sounds like we're saying "vont"
• I Lie: it's critical that EVERYONE knows the key words in each phrase during the slow section (vs 3) and that you pace your slight crescendos, decrescendos, and stagger breathing accordingly. It's the only thing that will make that section work!!
• I Lie: Sopranos, you need to know key words for each phrase in all the verses that you sing dotted half notes. Also, keep working at lifting the pitches as you sing - particularly Es and Gs.
• Day Dawn: All parts - diction (treasure each word and be as expressive as possible)!! Also, Sop1s please review your line at mm.53-56 - there are still wrong notes happening.
• Heaven Will Rise: vowel on "rise" (anytime you say that word) needs more space. Get the key changes locked so you can hear the whole choir in your head and know exactly how your note needs to be sung to establish each new key. If you're not a pianist then use the recording. Can't emphasize that enough.
• Uraren - Fast Sections:  really work at breath pacing so you doing clip phrases or lose the core in your sound as you do your stage crosses
• Uraren - Slow Section: work on pacing the crescendo in your body. This can't be accomplished by quickly singing it through or singing quietly. Find somewhere to practice where you can do this section (with movement) in time and with your full voice so your body can get used to making that crescendo happen steadily and gorgeously! This is not something that you can depend on Sundays to lock in - it's something your body has to innately know how to do.

Blocking:

• at the top of the show, everyone's eyeline should be focused up and out (at the bottom of the St Matt's balcony)
• you can react to the headlines as they are being read (see Erin's excellent notes in the previous blog post)
• please practice going from sitting to standing and vice versa with a long skirt on!
• V'la l'bon vent
• please check your cue to stand up for the first time (mm 11)
• Shila - a little bit slower getting to the front during the transition between V'la and I lie - Tenille should be the centre of focus until the end of her line
• I lie
• review/drill the slow section for choreography 
• verse 4 - review the emotional journey of this verse: mm 87-90, as you're drifting back, you think you've lost him...then mm 91-102 there is a sense of hopefulness as you move forward, you see him!...mm 103-end, a sense of melancholy as you realize he is gone
• Mackenzie - say your line to the audience without moving - you can move to your spot once you've finished your line
• Tejas - cross to SL sooner so you're there for your line
• Heaven Will Rise
• Zoe/Shila need to angle yourselves more to be in line with the train (will help when we all have suitcases!)
• review/drill the choreography mm 76-100 (tip: the action changes when the chord changes)
• Zoe/Shila remember you are first off the train at mm 121 - go right away
• Uraren
• review/drill opening choreography mm 1-11 (each action starts at the beginning of the soloist's 2-bar phrase)
• review/drill the timing for the "three steps back" action (mm 18-19 & mm 57-58)
• end of the slow section - your hand comes down on mm 48, beat 1
• last measure when your hands come up - smile!!

Character Notes

Character Notes & Motivations

Opening

As soon as you enter the stage area, it is important to be in character. During Colleen’s line, you are feeling a bit of concern. On Nelle’s line, you are feeling proud of your country. On Jenny’s line, you are feeling a little more concern. And on Leah’s line, you are feeling even more pride and/or fear depending on your character.  Your focus should be on the balcony, not looking at one another.

I’ll Give My Love an Apple

Imagining a life together after the war ends. Lots of tenderness and warmth throughout this piece. Some wistfulness at the very end.

V’la l’bon vent

Doing work for the war effort – keeping busy, working hard to support the troops. The quartet are the ones managing the efforts. The slow section is a moment of feeling bad about the situation, and then straight back to work.

Transition to I Lie

Things are much more serious overseas, and the news is starting to be very troubling.

I Lie

Personal experience of fear and vulnerability. Time is passing slowly, and the war is dragging on. Some sense of desperation and uncertainty.

Day Dawn

Waking up and anticipating the reunion. There is a bit of fear that your beloved will either not come home today, or will be very changed.

Heaven Will Rise

On the way to the train to Halifax. Excitement.

Uraren Besotik

Trying to catch sight of & find your beloved and finally finding them.

Notes for Sunday April 13 + VIDEO SHOOT!

Hi everyone,

Sorry that this week's blog post is a couple of days late! We had a couple of unavoidable circumstances this week that pushed our meeting to this morning. But here's what we've got going on for this Sunday:

Full company called 1:15-5:00 (alto 2s are on snack duty). We will be working on little fixes for each of the pieces in WotEL and then after break we will do our first "stumble-through" of the whole show (off book!!!) with time for fixes after.

From 5:00-5:30 pm we'll be working on music for the April 27 church service, the IWK gig, and Music Monday. If you can't be present for any of these gigs you're welcome to leave at 5:00 pm.

Here's what you need to bring to rehearsal this Sunday:

• the usual: script, music, water bottle, pencil
• rehearsal costume: a long skirt (midi or maxi) if you have it; Xara shoes/gym slippers if you have them (you will be wearing gym slippers in the performance); an apron if you have one (doesn't matter what it looks like)
• rehearsal props: your letter, sheets/dishclothes, knitting

I also need two large wicker baskets for rehearsals - if anyone can bring one, let me know before Sunday!

Monday April 14 - Promotional Video Shoot!

Thank you to those of you who are able to be there on Monday evening. The details are:

• Monday April 14, 6-10 pm
• Alderney Landing Theatre - if you take the ferry to Dartmouth, the theatre is in the same building as the Dartmouth ferry terminal!
• To Bring: full Xara outfit (tunic, leggings, boots); stage makeup, hair products/accessories as needed, sheet music/scripts, water, a snack

The plan is to film two distinct sections:

1. Once everyone is fully dressed, we are going to get some shots of everyone doing their makeup/going over their scripts & music backstage. So you can feel free to arrive at 6 without your makeup and hair done as we can actually use the footage of you while you're getting ready! They have a nice backstage space there with fully lit mirrors etc.

2. Around 7pm we'll transition into the theatre. First we'll do some shots in different formations of the ensemble singing the last page of Uraren besotik (you'll be singing along to the March 23 recording that we'll have playing in the theatre). Then we'll try a few other formations/choreography/fun stuff. 

We'll make sure to take a break at some point in the evening so feel free to bring snacks!

We're super excited for this to be coming together!! The video should be ready by May 1.

Thanks everyone and see you Sunday!

Revised I lie blocking

Hi everyone - Here are the changes in I lie based on the changes in personnel - please make note of when your actions happen:

New 2 Lines Formation:
Back row, stage right to stage left:
Shannon, Nelle, Brianna, Hayley, Sarah, Mackenzie, Robin, Joanna, Devon, Sara
Front row, stage right to stage left:
Corinne, Kallie, Colleen, Shila, Zoe, Leah/Jordyn, Tenille, Tejas, Jenny, Krystal

Note: Corinne is the outermost person in the front row (thus Shannon is in the 'window' between Corinne and Kallie). Sara is the outermost person in the back row.

Verse 1 Actions:

Left hand up
mm 1 Corinne & Sara
mm 2 Shannon & Krystal
mm 3 Kallie & Devon
mm 4 Nelle & Jenny
mm 5 Colleen & Joanna
mm 6 Brianna & Tejas
mm 7 Shila & Robin
mm 8 Hayley & Tenille
mm 9 Zoe & Mackenzie
mm 10 Sarah & Leah

Right hand up
mm 11 Sarah & Leah
mm 12 Zoe & Mackenzie
mm 13 Hayley & Tenille
mm 14 Shila & Robin
mm 15 Brianna & Tejas
mm 16 Colleen & Joanna
mm 17 Nelle & Jenny
mm 18 Kallie & Devon
mm 19 Shannon & Krystal
mm 20 Corinne & Sara

Verse 2 Order to Step Forward

mm 29 Kallie
mm 30 Tenille
mm 31 Colleen
mm 32 Jenny
mm 33 Zoe
mm 34 Joanna
mm 35 Corinne
mm 36 Devon
mm 37 Tejas
mm 38 Nelle
mm 39 Sarah
mm 40 Leah
mm 41 Shila
mm 42 Shannon
mm 43 Mackenzie
mm 44 Krystal
mm 45 Brianna
mm 46 Robin
mm 47 Hayley
mm 48 Sara

Heaven Will Rise and Uraren besotik Videos

Heaven Will Rise mm 1-46

Heaven Will Rise mm 73-100

Heaven Will Rise mm 121-end

End of Heaven Will Rise into Uraren besotik to end of slow section

Heaven Will Rise & Uraren besotik Blocking Notes

HEAVEN WILL RISE

Transition between Day Dawn & Heaven Will Rise - Joanna starts speaking her line, Jenny spreads a D, all pick up and "popcorn" the sound while moving to starting positions for Heaven Will Rise.

mm 1-2  Two lines on either edge of the stage. Sops stage right (SR), altos stage left (SL). Shannon at front of sop line.

mm 3-22  One at a time at a fast pace, leave line, pickup suitcase at the back of the stage, walking to I Lie mixed scattered (MS) formation. Suitcase in right hand. Order is the same as in I lie mm 29-50 (see notes to follow re: changes)

mm 23-24 Still, facing forward

mm 25  Move to 2 lines position (as per I lie).

mm 30  Move suitcase to front of body, holding with two hands when Shannon sings D of "will"

mm 46  Move to train positions, put down suitcase as your "seat", stay standing.

Sop train runs up stage right (USR) to down stage center (DSC). Order starting from the front of the train:
(outside) Zoe & Shila (inside)
Colleen & Hayley
Sarah & Brianna
Kallie & Corinne
Shannon & Nelle

Alto train runs up stage left (USL) to DSC. Order starting from the front of the train:
(outside) Leah/Jordyn & Mackenzie (inside)
Tenille & Robin
Tejas & Joanna
Jenny & Sara
Krystal & Devon

mm 50-72  Sit in train positions

mm 54  Zoe stand to sing, sit when finished

mm 62 Shannon stand to sing, stay near your seat on the train, move to sit at mm 70

mm 73-80  Look at one another, excited, "talking", to each other on the train

mm 81-84 Turn body to face the audience

mm 85-88  Head turn as if watching the countryside go by (mm 85 - R to L, mm 86 L to R etc)

mm 89-92  Lean forward

mm 93-98  Stand up

mm 99-120  Sit down

mm 121 Stand up, pick up suitcase and file off train, moving to MS. Zoe and Shannon are down stage right (DSR)

mm 139  Still until end of song

URAREN BESOTIK

mm 1-2  All except soloist turn around to face back of stage on Christina's cue

mm 3-4  Put suitcase down

mm 5-6  Right shoulder rolls up, right arm reaches back to audience, look over right shoulder

mm 7-8  Turn body to face audience, bring right hand to heart (fist)

mm 9  Hand down, stay still

mm 12-13  Still

mm 14-17 Stage cross, moving to new MS

mm 18-19  Step backwards (3 steps - for sops it happens on "ba", "ko" and "ra"; for altos it happens on "u", "ai" and "ren"

mm 20-23 Step forward, one step/bar on beat 1

mm 24-25 Still

mm 26-31  Stage cross

mm 32  Still

mm 33-36  Staggered turn in, outside to inside of group. Group 1 (outermost edges) turn on downbeat of mm 34. Group 2 turn on downbeat of mm 35. Group 3 turn on downbeat of mm 36.

mm 37-39 Slow head turn over audience shoulder (like in slow section of V'la l'bon vent)

mm 40 Slow body turn to front

mm 41  Suitcase down

mm 42-44  Box action (like in Apple & Day Dawn), fast 'sweep' of hands across box happens on downbeat of mm 43. Hands down on mm 44 beat 1 "na"

mm 45-46  Right arm reaches forward when you sing "zai da go", 2nd sops split half with sop 1s and half with altos

mm 46-47  R hand to heart (fist), comes down on last beat of mm 47

mm 51- 52  Still

mm 53-56 Stage cross

mm 57-58  Step backward (3 steps - for sop 1s it happens on "sen", "ko" and "ra" for sop 2s and altos it happens on "u", "e" and "re"

mm 59-62  Step forward, one step/bar on beat 1

mm 63 Suitcase down

mm 64 Both hands up on last note "en!"

Notes for Sunday, April 6

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for a great rehearsal on Sunday afternoon! And thanks to Erin, as always, for your wonderful notes and videos!!

This Sunday, full company called 1:15-5:30 pm (alto 1s on snack duty). We'll do a review of I lie with blocking, then we'll focus on music and blocking for Day Dawn, Heaven Will Rise, and Uraren besotik. For this Sunday, you need to have Day Dawn and Uraren besotik music memorized.

This Sunday we'll also be doing polls to see how many of you are available for the IWK Foundation gig (morning of Friday, May 2) and the Music Monday performance (afternoon of Monday, May 5). Please look ahead in your schedules this week and do what you can to make yourself available for these events!

Reminder that the off book day for all blocking and music is the following Sunday, April 13. We'll do our first "stumble through" of the whole show that day, and spend a bit more time working the transitions between pieces including the text elements.

See you Sunday!